Kitanakagusuku plans biogas power generation facility

Kitanakagusuku Village is planning to construct an electric power generation plant that uses biogas from kitchen garbage from AEON Mall Rycom and other facilities located in the area.

It all started when village officials realized that the joint garbage disposal plant in Nakagusuku Village could not dispose all of the kitchen garbage that came from AEON Rycom.

According to the plan, heat and compost liquid that are generated as byproducts in the process of electricity generation would be used for agriculture. The scheme envisions a local cycling system of food and energy. Kitchen garbage from ordinary homes will continue to be disposed of at the joint plant.

The electric power plant in the village would start operating in 2019. This would be the first trial in Okinawa to generate electric power using biogas from kitchen garbage.

The biogas electric power plant output is about 1,000kWh per day. According to village officials’ calculations, the power plant could generate an annual profit of ¥15 million when they sell the electricity at current rates, which would mean that the ¥230 million cost of the plant construction would be recovered within 15 years.